I thought I'd share my story in hopes it helps someone save their VP down the road.

A little background...

I bought the truck in July, 80k miles, great condition, ran very well and had the original stock LP. I started to get dead pedal only when cold, and when I ran either Diesel Kleen or 2-stroke oil I swore it did not do it. Well, that only lasted so long, and by about mid October I was getting dead pedal almost every cold or semi-cold start. Then, on the highway the truck started losing power intermittently. If I kept the throttle in the same place (cruising at 65-70) it would cut out and feel like overdrive, but much stronger. If I mashed the pedal or downshifted, the power would come back, but go away again as soon as the throttle was stable for a few minutes. This issue would only last 15 or 20 minutes, then the truck would run well the rest of the trip. (Drove from Tampa to Charlotte over the summer, no issues).

I finally hooked up a fuel pressure gauge and even when it felt like the pump was giving me full power, I got 10psi idle and under 5, more like 3 at WOT. I never got the PSI when it was cutting out, everytime it cut out I tried pulling over and taking a reading, but it would kick back in as soon as I hooked the gauge up. My plan was and still is to buy an Airdog, but not wanting to fry my VP, I bought an E7153 from Autozone to get me by. Installed in a about 90 minutes, very easy and the new pump is a different design than the old - according to the Autozone guy (who says he worked for Airtex) it's a rotary design that was to address the issues with the original LP.

The truck is running MUCH better now, idles smoother, doesn't cut out or give me dead pedal even when cold, and highway driving is a dream compared to how it was.

For anyone with LP issues, heres my symptoms when the LP seemed to cut out:

- Wouldn't rev past 2000 RPM
- At 2000 RPM, it blew white smoke
- Towards the end it seemed to make a "chug" noise on the highway.
- Randomly would kick back in and give me full power


Anyway, I'm saving for an Airdog and Gauges, but on a college budget that will take another few months, so I'm hoping this Airtex will buy me that time. If not, I'll just use the warranty as much as necessary

Hope this helps someone out with lift pump issues!

 

Hopefully it will get you by. Wouldn't hurt to put a temporary gauge on there just to see what it is doing. Borrow a friends if you can. Take 'er easy on the go fast pedal.

 

Definatly a gauge!